Hot Water
Encyclopedia
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by P.G. Wodehouse, first published on August 17, 1932, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Herbert Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of "Herbert Jenkins" and "Barrie & Rockcliffe". One of their most notable authors was P. G...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Doubleday, Doran, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The novel had been serialised in Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
from 21 May to 6 August 1932. It was subsequently adapted for the stage by Wodehouse and his long-time collaborator Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
as The Inside Stand (1935).
The story takes place at the Chateau
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
Blissac, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, and recounts the various romantic and criminal goings-on there during a house party, hosted by the Vicomte Blissac. It contains a mixture of romance, intrigue and Wodehouse's brand of humour.
Plot outline
The story's central character is Packy Franklyn, an American millionaire and sportsman. He is engaged to Lady Beatrice Bracken and is staying in England. A chance meeting with the great Dry legislator, Senator Ambrose Opal, leads to all hell breaking loose when a letter written by the Senator to his bootlegger is used as a tool for blackmail. The book also features Gordon "Oily" Carlisle and Gertie, who reappears in the book Cocktail TimeCocktail Time
thumb|1st UK editionCocktail Time is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on June 20, 1958 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on July 24, 1958 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York...
, as well as Soup Slattery and Jane Opal.
External links
- The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with a list of characters